BY SHERI TRUSTY

It’s going to be an artfully beautiful summer in Port Clinton.

The Greater Port Clinton Area Arts Council (GPCAAC) will host its 30th Annual Arts & Crafts Festival at Waterworks Park, on Saturday, June 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The organization’s popular Art Walks will change some dates as it moves from downtown to The Arts Garage (TAG) parking lot and reinvents itself as weekend events beginning on Friday through Sunday, June 16-18.

The Arts & Crafts Festival will feature nearly 50 artists from around the Midwest selling their original work. Event goers will find paintings, pottery, glasswork and other art, in addition to food and kids crafts. The public event held near the historic Port Clinton Lighthouse is free.

Tours of the lighthouse will be available from noon to 5 p.m. Tours cost $3, and kids 10 and under are free but must be at least 42-inches tall. The Keepers Boathouse & Gift Shop will also be open noon to 5 p.m.

The popular Art Walks have been transformed into pop-up art shows. Art Walk dates are June 16-18, July 1-4, July 21-23, and Aug. 4-6. Artists are welcome to sell their original work in the parking lot of TAG at 317 W. Perry Street in Port Clinton.

“Any artist can do a pop-up,” said GPCAAC Vice President Keith Fleming. “The Art Walks are going to be awesome.”

Artist vendor cost is $45 each day or $75 for the entire weekend.

Art Walks are free and open to the public. In addition to shopping at the pop-up stands, visitors can purchase food from the Rotary Perch Wagon and tour TAG, which features art exhibits and resident artist booths. Larchmere Fire Works of Cleveland will host glassblowing and blacksmith classes during the Art Walks.

“Larchmere Fire Works was here a few weeks ago, and a lot of fathers and sons did blacksmithing together. Our next Art Walk is on Father’s Day weekend, so it would be a fun thing for families to do together,” Fleming said.

For more information, visit www.gpcaac.org.